


A Card in Time

by NoodlerHead



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Angst and Feels, Arson, Blood, F/F, Fluff, Kings & Queens, Lots of Angst, M/M, Mild Blood, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, and so ye, card, damn so many tags, its my au-, main game, movie, mustache girl doesn't have a mustache-, oh yeah-
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2020-11-07 16:29:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 11,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20820341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoodlerHead/pseuds/NoodlerHead
Summary: AU where everyone is the ruler of a card suit. Diamond, Clubs, Hearts, Spades, and Joker(yes i know its not a suit but whatever)Official tumblr for this AU: @acardintimeAnd my main blog: @nodleheaduwu





	1. Bow Kid and Hat Kid and Mu

“I said to go to the left!” a voice cried out from the dark alleyway of Mafia Kingdom.

“I did go to the left!” another, more high-pitched(and more owo) voice, cried back to the former.

“My left!”

“My left?”

“NO! MY left!”

“OH! My left!”

“NO NO NO! MY LEFT!”

“Ohhhh...YOUR left!”

“Yeah! MY left!” 

A blonde girl, with a red cape, rolled her amber eyes, trying to beat up some Mafia goons.

“WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP? I’M TRYING TO DO SOMETHING HERE!!” Mu shouted towards the alleyway. 

“Who was that? I thought that this land was deserted and inhabitable!” the first voice yelped.

“I dunno! How am I supposed to know? I’m not like I’m Tim’s Friend or something!”

When Mu peered around the corner where the two voices were coming from, she saw two girls, about her age. One of the girls had a hazel colored complexion and dark chocolate hair, a pink jacket, ruby skirt, and wore a comically large cherry bow. The other had pale skin, umber hair, a ponytail, yellow cape, cerise dress, and a large crimson hat(similar to the first girl but with a hat).

“Huh! I never knew that there were other children were in these lands!” the one with the bow remarked. “It’s really a surprise! What do you think, Hat?”

“Hmm! It’s really interesting! Soooooo! What’s your name friend? Is Karen, Milly, Lina, or maybe Kevin?” “Hat” hyper-actively asked Mu.

“Mu? That’s my name.”

“Well it's nice meeting you, Mu! Hey Bow! You want to look around to see where the timepiece landed? So we can go home?”

Timepiece? Mu thought curiously. What’s that? Some collectible for nerds?

Bow facepalmed, groaning.

“Hat! I told you NOT to say the t-word!” 

“Timepiece?” Hat tilted her head.

“YES! No one can know! No one can know about its important power!”

Now Mu was curious. 

“What’s a timepiece?” Mu asked Bow. 

“HAHAHAHHAHA- Hatttt…” Bow hissed. “Well, we got to go! Bye! TOTALLY nice to meet you!!”

That was the only thing Bow said before the two disappeared back into the dark shadows. Leaving Mu and the pile of beaten up Mafia, alone.


	2. Things From the Past Come Back to Haunt You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Also, there are no timerifts. annnnnnnnnnddddd there are only like 20 timepieces.

“Hat! Why did you mention the timepieces to that ‘Mu’? You know we can’t tell random people about the time pieces!” Bow exclaimed in the shadows, as the two walked anywhere else that wasn’t near that girl they just encountered.

“I know...I know.. I was just...really want to go back home…or at least visit there,” Hat sheepishly mumbled. “Though… I don’t want to go back to Time…”

Bow sighed, “Yeah. Me too… but we must not tell any more people! It’s...for our protection and its. We only have two timepieces left! We NEED to find the rest of the timepieces!”

“Ugh, yeah, I know already,” Hat grunted. “Don’t need to remind me. ‘Cause its always MY fault.”

“...Hat, you know that’s not true-”

“DON’T LIE TO ME BOW! DON’T LIE TO YOURSELF! YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE!! I MADE THE TIMEPIECES FALL DOWN HERE! I MADE TIM SICK! I MADE TIM’S FRIEND BE LOCKED UP! I MADE THOR NEARLY DIE! I MADE ALL THOSE...THOSE HORRIBLE FIRES!! AND DID THEM ON PURPOSE!!” Hat Kid shrieked, seemingly manically.

Bow Kid was silent. The air was silent. The only sound was Hat’s heavy breathing. Other than that, you could hear a pin drop.

“You...what?”

“THOSE FIRES! I CREATED THEM! I COMMITTED...I COMMITTED... ”

“It’s...it’s fine Hat-” 

“NO! No..No it isn’t. Don’t try to defend me anymore…” Hat choked out.

“But everyone deserves a second chance! That’s what you always say!” Bow exclaimed, pointing out the fact.

“Though in this case, I’ve taken too many second chances!”

“It's NOT your fault Hat! It was never your fault! It was the timepieces’ fault! Your immunity hadn’t properly developed and you were in charge of touching the timepieces, DAILY!! AND those things could be dangerous to our people who don’t have immunity developed!” Bow flailed her arms for a effect.

“..I suppose you’re right Bow...You’re the best sister you know that?”

“I guess I am. But, let’s focus on finding some shelter somewhere that isn’t near those...men or Mu."

“Good idea Bow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah so im updating this again- and we're diving right into some angst-


	3. Cooking Cat is here!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah- cc is here-

Mu sat in her cave, frowning. She usually wouldn’t be just sitting there, but be fishing, looking for scraps, sleeping, or at least beating up the ones who wronged her. Yet, she sat there, pondering what that “timepiece” is. The blonde had seen something of a meteor shower yesterday, though the “meteors” were pink. Not white like other stars, but pink. Or red. Whatever.

And immediately the day after two girls show up? There was something sketchy(not as sketchy as the Mafia of course!) going on, and Mu was going to find out what it was. But… she should use the appearance of those two to her advantage. Like...defeating the Mafia once and for all!   
\-------------------------------------  
“Boooooooooowwwwwwwww, I’m hungryyyyyyyyyy.”

“Bowwwwwwwwwww, I’m tiiiiiiirrrrrreeeedddd.”

“Bowwwwwwwww, I want waaaaaaterrrrrrr.”

“Bowwwwwwwwwwwww I want coooookiiiiiieeeeeessssss.”

“Boooowwwww, I-”

“HAT WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP? I’M TRYING TO FIND WATER, SHELTER, AND FOOD!”

“But Bowwwwwwwwwwwww, I wa-”

“SHUT UP!”

“What is that...noise at this hour?” a strangely sweet voice asked, tiredly.

“LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID HAT!!”

“Oh! Hello sugars! You must be new here!” the voice exclaimed, looking around the corner to see the two “aliens”.

And who/what they saw surprised them. 

It was an orange tabby cat with white spots all over, green eyes, and… a chef outfit? THAT was new. 

“I’m Cooking Cat! You can call me CC!” the tabby in the chef outfit introduced herself.

“I’m Hat, and this is my sister Bow!”

“Lovely names! You two girls remind me of someone I haven’t seen recently...I’m worried about her…” the cat drifted off.

“Mu?” Bow asked CC.

“You know her?”

“Yeah! We met her this morning!” Hat explained.

“That’s good to know she’s OK. So, what brings you to,” Cooking Cat shuddered in disgust. “Mafia Kingdom?”

“This place is called Mafia Kingdom? What kind of name is THAT?” “We’re uh...visiting family!” Bow and Hat said at the same time.

The two girls stared at each other.

“Well, you darlings must be tired! Get some rest OK? It was nice meeting you!”

Hat Kid and Bow Kid had never ran away from someone that fast in their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeehawwwwwwwwwwwww


	4. Its Raining, Its Pouring, A Mafia Man is Screaming about Aliens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mu and CC know each other. i.e CC is basically Mu's mom

Mu was laying on the sandy, grainy ground(near where her cave was), hands on the back of her head, when CC approached her. Cooking Cat’s paws and outfit were already covered in golden sand.

“Hello sugar!” CC greeted, cheerfully.

“Oh, hey CC,” Mu greeted back. “It's been awhile hasn’t it?”

“It really is. How have you been?”

“I’ve been pretty good. Beating up the Mafia, the usual. You?”

“Still cooking for the Mafia…” Cooking Cat sighed. “I wish we can have our home back…”

“Soon CC, soon. Just need to wait for those… ‘Hat’ and ‘Bow’.”

The tabby cat nodded.

\-----------------------------------------

“Dang it Time! It’s raining! Agh!” Hat cursed.

“Hat! No cursing!” 

“What? Its true! We may have our raincoats and boots but we’re drenched in water and mud! It’s disgusting!”

Bow scoffed, “You do have a point.”

“Of course I do! Wait...is that… a pink shiney on the roof tops?”

“W-what? Somebody already has it?! In this weather?!”

“I guess so, lets go get them!” Hat proposed, excited to kick some butt. 

Bow was shaking her head, as the two girls jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

\------------------------------------

“Hey!” Hat shouted to the trembling Mafia man with the weird swirly glasses and goofy tie. “That’s mine!”

“"It's... IT'S THE SLIMY SPACE ALIENS! MAFIA SAW SPACESHIP! MAFIA KNEW ALL ALONG! MAFIA IS BEING INVADED BY ALIENS! BUT NOBODY BELIEVE MAFIA!" the goofy Mafia man burst out, unexpectedly, earning two yelps.

“What...what spaceship? We don’t have a spaceship...” Bow muttered.

“WELP! WHATEVER! That timepiece is MINE!” Hat narrowed her eyes, grumbling about how rude people are these days. 

But the mud that covered her, made it look that she really, truly was an alien, and the fact that she was grumbling didn’t help. The Mafia man screamed and sprinted away.

“Well this is going to be harder than I thought.”

Bow slapped her head, again for the trillionth time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no double chapter today, but i'll try to do it daily. if not weekly


	5. Mafia Boss: Down!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YEAH I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT ACIT IS SLIGHTLY MORE DEATH WISH THAN THE OG GAME- its kinda insane-

Hat huffed. Geez, what’s with this idiotic show-biz and money obessed moron? Why doesn’t he just give her the time piece? 

“LIGHTS ACTION SHOWTIME!” the Mafia Boss announced, grandly, yet stupidly.

How did she get into this mess? Why didn’t she just take Bow with her? Oh yeah...she wanted to get some extra snooze time…and Mu asked her to come....

\---------------------------------

“So you want me to take you to a place where we can beat up people?” Mu offered to Hat, many hours earlier. “I mean...it’s your choice.”

Hat nodded, “Sure why not? I just want the timepiece! I almost got them all from here!”

“Say...what even is a timepiece?” 

“W-what?”

“What’s a timepiece?” Mu asked again.

“...It’s a… it’s a family heirloom,” Hat Kid lied.

“OK then…Well, meet me at the Mafia Castle HQ!”

“Mafia...Castle ...HQ…?”

“Don’t ask.”

\-----------------------------

“AAAAA!” Hat screamed as she flopped onto the floating island’s ground. Being shot out of a canon was NOT the best way to transport to a floating island’s castle.

“You’ll get used to that soon enough, but right now get these goons outa my way!” Mu demanded from the stone roof. How did she get there anyways?

Despite all the questions Hat Kid had, she nodded and swung her trusty umbrella at the Mafia goons, and they poofed without another word.

“Good job kid!” Mu said, as she jumped down from the roof, and landed onto one of the orange button pads.

“I’m not a kid…” Hat mumbled to herself as she sulked towards the other button pad.

“FINALLY! I CAN FINALLY GO IN THERE WITHOUT CC!”

And the two of them walked inside the castle/casino/restaurant.

\----------------------------

“You go inside and be a distraction to the Mafia Boss and his goons, while I take the kill!” Mu pointed towards the freezer door.

What a bossy girl...Hat thought to herself. 

The hatted child jumped from one of the selves to another, shivering, until she finally got to the vent and crawled in.

\---------------------------

“OOF!”

Hat Kid noticed a man with a dark mustache and chef hat on a throne. 

“Pftt...He’s the king?” Hat laughed to herself. But stopped giggling when she saw 3 Mafia goons coming after her, not looking like they just wanted to chat and have small talk. “Yeep!”

The alien easily avoided the punches and head butts of the Mafia goons, but had been taken by surprise, when she saw a metal gate preventing her from going any further. She yelped as she saw even more Mafia goons coming after her. 

Hat Kid again, dodged the goons, and the gate slowly was retracted.

“So... it is you!" the man announced. 

“How do you know me?!” the child asked the king.

"Ever since you landed in Mafia Kingdom, it's been raining with these magical hourglasses!" the Mafia Boss ignored her question and continued on.

"You must be very lost, kid with the hat. You're in the heart of our kingdom, standing before the most powerful man you will ever witness. Everything you've ever owned belongs to me now."

“Including this hourglass piece. If you want it, we'll have to settle it in true Mafia style!"

Oh Time, Hat thought. I’m screwed aren’t I?

“LIGHTS! ACTION! IT’S….SHOWTIME!”

“WHYYYYY???!!!” Hat screeched as she barely dodged the sandbags and the Mafia goon. 

“SUPER CHARGE!”

“TIME NO-”

“MAFIAAAAAAAA BALLL!!” somehow summoning a whole BALL of Mafia men.

As you can see, this was a very long fight.

\---------------------------

“I even have your little friend!” the Mafia Boss mocked.

“LET ME GO YOU BUFFOON-” Mu shrieked as she tried getting out of the restraints.

“HAHAHHAA NEVE-”

Hat Kid then swung her umbrella(for what was the millionth time) at the Mafia Boss, and had finally knocked him unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for no chapter yesterday, i had something to do- but to make it up...i got an extra long chapter!


	6. Traitors, ALL OF THEM!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hmmmm...stuff gonna go down in this chapter

“AHAHAHAA!! FINALLY! HE FINALLY IS DEFEATED! AHAHAHAHA!” Mu laughed maniacally, as she shook, and then the ropes tying her, suddenly snapped, and she was free. “I CAN’T BELIEVE IT-”

Hat let her go on with her rant some more, and smiled. There was the timepiece! She was about to take the hourglass, when she was spun around quickly, and the timepiece was no longer at her fingertips.

“Nuh?!”

“What even IS this? A collectable for NERDS?” Mu asked, while playing with the timepiece, throwing it around.

“N-no! Don’t d-do tha-” Hat stammered.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Hat Kid cringed at the future reaction from Mu and the timepiece being broken.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

“What even IS th- Wait...WHAT!” Mu shrieked as she saw the timepiece, not on the floor, shattered and broken, but in her hands. Fully intact. “Wh- Wha? Whhattt?? Did you know about this?!”

Hat nodded, still cringing.

“This….this is GREAT! I can finally defeat the Mafia once and for all! Wait...I can make it so the Mafia never CAME to the island! We can be time-traveling heroes! Fighting baddies! And-” 

“No! The timepieces aren’t supposed to be used that way!” Hat interrupted, a bit too desperately.

“What? But! We can create justice, we can create peace! Don’t you want that? For everyone to be happy, without any bad guys?” 

“Well...yeah but-”

“SO WHY CAN’T WE JUST USE THIS?!”

“Because it’s going to destroy the time space continuum! And break all quantum physics!” a new voice shouted.

The two girls turned their heads to see both Bow and Cooking Cat were there. At the other side of the stage.

“CC! How did you get here? How did you know I came here?” Mu frantically asked. Now she seems nervous. 

“There are two buttons to get in the castle base, that requires two people. I took the Bow sugar here to assist me. And how did I know you were here? Well simple! You weren’t at your cave, and Hat wasn’t with Bow! So I assumed that you took poor Hat here to try to kill the Mafia Boss again,” CC pointed out, at least one person is using logic.

“UGH! Mu! Give us that timepiece! NOW,” Bow demanded. “We need it more than you!”

“NO! I can use this to fight the Mafia! I can and WILL make them pay for what they did to CC and me!”

“Mu, give Bow and Hat the timepiece,” the tabby cat glared at the blonde.

“W-what?”

“I said give her the timepiece, Mu.”

“You too CC? Out of all the people...I thought that you were the one who would agree with me the most...but you just are a backstabbing… TRAITOR!” Mu screeched, slamming the timepiece and a bomb to the wooden floor.

“Mark my words...I will do justice...Just you wait...” was all she said before she had completely disappeared in a cloud of grey smoke.

The body of the unconscious Mafia Boss was also gone.


	7. Jars and Friendships Shattered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Card seller is the badge seller, don't ask-

Shouts, screams, wacking, and maniacal laughter filled the alley ways of the former Mafia Kingdom. (It was now called the Mustache Kingdom, I know. What an original name. 11/10.)

Every inhabitant was too afraid to move from where they were, fearful that they may be next. 

The Mafia men were shaking and hiding behind the fish crates, the crows cawing on top of the palm trees, the racoons still sleeping, though the racoons were having terrifying nightmares of what was happening. The old men had wobbly knees, CC sat on the stone ground, her paws around her “knees”. Hat Kid and Bow Kid were both on top of the building where the Card Seller would usually be. 

Strangely enough, it was raining cats and dogs, as if the mood wasn’t already gloomy. 

Finally, the shrieks were gone. Finished. Just vanished. Hat decided to hop down from where she was, to find what Mu did. 

At least Hat thought it was Mu. She wasn’t too sure who it was.

Hat looked, peered, and searched to see which alleyway Mu was, and stopped when the hatted girl found the alley way that she was in. 

Surprisingly, what Hat saw wasn’t that horrific. She saw the blonde(shocker) dripping magenta goo into a jar. Adding/glueing some eyeballs and black mustache, similar to the Mafia Boss’s looked like. Mu finished the jar off by putting the Mafia Boss’s hat on top of it.

Then, suddenly, she stomped on the jar. Shattering the glass, splattering the goo, squishing the other accessories. The red capped girl smiled.

Hat noticed something off from Mu.

Her eyes. They were pink. Not amber, but pink. Just like the timepiece. She was already corrupted. 

“Time no…” Hat’s eyes widened.


	8. Birds, Vents, Tacky Trophies, and... Markers?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hueh, so we gots the two birds-

“Hat...I don’t think it’s such a good idea to barge into people’s castles uninvited-” Bow stammered.

The two girls were standing in front of a large grey castle, colorful cars behind them.

“Eh, at least we’ll get our timepieces back,” Hat shrugged carelessly. 

“Yeah but this castle looks like some movie studio or something like that!”

“So?”

“So we shouldn’t disturb them! And come back later to get the timepiece!” 

“....Well, time to raid it-”

“HAT NO-” Bow shrieked as Hat started to book it into the castle. “NOT THE AREA 51 THING AGAIN-”

\---------------------------------

“DARLING DARLING DARLING, CALM DOWN!” a penguin with tall red shoes hollered.

“SHUT UP DJ PECK NECK, AH KNOW IT WAS YER FAULT THAT THE MOVIE AIN’T WORKIN’ PROPERLY!” a small, but loud yellow owl(?) in a suit shouted.

“MY FAULT? MORE LIKE YOUR FAULT! YOU’RE JUST BLAMING ME BECAUSE YOU CAN’T EVEN HAVE A PROPER STORYLINE OR SCRIPT!” the penguin with incredibly tall bright crimson shoes shouted back.

Both birds had crowns, interestingly enough.

“Well, uh- Bad time ey?” Hat mumbled to herself.

“HAT! WHAT IN TIME ARE YOU DOING-” Bow whisper shouted. “Oh Time, we need to get out of here-”

“Wait...I think we can escape from that vent!” Hat pointed at the half-opened vent up above the receptionist’s desk/office.

“Ugh, I hate it whenever you actually have decent ideas.” 

Bow and Hat both started to climb the many trophy shelves towards the half-opened vent.

\-------------------------------

“Why is it so darrrrrrrrkkkk?? I can’t see annnyyything! I didn’t sign up for thiiiiiiisssss!” Hat complained as they tried to navigate through the almost pitch black studio(?).

“Shut up Hat, this was your idea!”

“Yeah but you agreed to it!” Hat argued.

The girl with the bow just sighed and facepalmed, for the millionth time.

\-------------------------------

“Hu!” Hat huffed as she and Bow landed on the tall metal platform with red carpet. “Woah…. This place is really bright and red…it’s so bright that I need sunglasses- No, TWO sunglasses! I should have gotten those sunglasses at the lobby-”

“Hat! Look! It’s that penguin guy!” Bow interrupted, pointing towards the penguin with the afro.

“Magnificent! Stunning! This trophy is everything I desire... on the shelf of my living room!" the penguin exclaimed, waving his flippers around.

In front of him was a horrifically gigantic golden trophy. It was the most tackiest thing Hat and Bow had seen. And that was saying a lot.

“Well, this isn’t the real thing, this is just the replica!” the penguin mumbled to himself.

“IT MIGHT AS WELL BE JUST AS TACKY-” Hat blurted out before Bow could stop her.

“HAAAT!” Bow scolded.

“What? I’m not wrong!”

“Do my eyes deceive me? Is it an innocent soul? A heart of gold?” the penguin turned to the two girls. “Oh wait, it’s just two little girls. Well at least they’re better than my penguins. Because frankly, they’re horrible actors.”

“Good to know we’re being compared to birds,” Bow grumbled.

“Even if they’re terrible actors, that...Conductor is a no good cheater!” the penguin hissed the yellow bird’s name like it was venom. “I’ve been on a terrible losing streak! In fact…. I think you darlings can help me! DJ Grooves!”

“So, that’s his name… DJ Grooves… huh,” Hat whispered into her sister’s ear.

“Let’s get you girls a bird passport! Picture perfect!” Grooves excitedly said.

The movie director’s tall shoes clicked as he bounced to a conveniently placed camera. Bow and Hat both followed but stood ahead of the camera.

Hat was bored(like she does) and started to rummage through her large hat, when she heard the camera click.

“DARLING YOU MOVED!” DJ Grooves shrieked. “How could you?!”

“But isn’t it your fault-” Bow started.

“Here, have some markers to fix up this ugly mug shot!”

“MARKERS???!!!” Hat screamed, clearly elated.


	9. Your Past Somehow Haunts You....Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a bit of angst here. conductor is kinda a bitch-

“AY PECK NECKS! WHAT ARE YA DOIN’ HERE? YOU CAN’T JUST MESS WITH THE ANNUAL BIRD MOVIE AWARDS! THAT’S FRAUD! FRAUD! HEY EVERYONE, WE GOT TWO FRAUDSTERS OVER HERE! Ugh, why are those owls so peckin’ USELESS?” the “Conductor” shouted at the girls after Grooves had gone to do his makeup or something like that.

“Uh- Can we help you with something Mister uh- Big Bird?” Bow asked, hoping to sound polite.

“Ye can help me by NOT helping DJ Peck neck with the movie awards! But...you’re not goin’ to do tha….soo ye can help me by starring in me own movie! Be back at my part of the studio at 8 in the mornin’. SHARP,” the yellow bird firmly snapped before giving the two girls ... a timepiece?! 

Bow Kid and Hat Kid both looked at the timepiece, then the Conductor, then the timepiece, then the Conductor, then back to the timepiece. Both of them bewildered.

“Well, I guess our schedule is booked tomorrow,” Hat stated as she held the shining timepiece in her hands, smiling. 

\--------------------------

“I can’t believe we already got 4 timepieces! And we’re going to be starring in TWO movies!” Bow exclaimed. “We’ll be home in no time!”

“Do we really want to go home Bow…?” Hat murmured.

“What do you mean? Of course we do!”

“But… we didn’t get much love from...Tim… he didn’t spend any time with us…”

“We knew he loved us!” Bow tried to convince Hat.

“Do we?” 

“.... What’s going on with you? We want to go home! Right?”

“... I don’t know anymore...I. I. I just want to stay here…” Hat admitted.

“But you have a responsibility! I have a responsibility! We need to take care of Time!”

“Can’t we take care of Time HERE? I’d rather stay here than…. There!” 

Bow sighed. She wasn’t the only one.

“Of course you do,” Bow sadly muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tumblr so you can see some art and extra content of this au! (blogs: @nodlehead and @acardintime)


	10. Parade Rush!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bow and Hat star in both directors' movies. But they're struggling.

“Eek! No no no no no! Not today, not today! I’m not gonna die today! Nope!” Hat Kid shrieked, as she dodged the many firearms that were aiming at her. 

Hat was desperately jumping from one floating platform to another, like her life depended on it. Which it did, because if she fell down or didn’t jump off of the platforms in time, she would fall down onto the rusting train tracks. 

Hat Kid eventually reached solid ground, only to find that the timer on the train was still ticking. Ticking to everyone on the train’s gruesome death and the train’s self destruction.

The hatted girl swiftly stepped onto more floating platforms, turning them from blank, to a glowing green. She sighed in relief, but had to sprint forward, swinging from the hook-shot hook. 

She really was starting to regret choosing Conductor’s movie over Grooves’. Who knew the shorter movie was going to be so intense and deadly?

Finally, Hat Kid reached the front of the train, the Conductor stomping his feet impatiently.

“Ah ye're here lass! Guid! We've gotten some real intense footage here! Guid work today, lassie!” the Conductor congratulated Hat, as he handed her a timepiece. “Ah can't WAIT tae see the look on DJ Peck Neck's face when Ah win the Movie awards again!”

The “alien” huffed in self-satisfaction and smashed the pink timepiece down, which teleported/time traveled her back into Cooking Cat’s alley. 

Both Bow and Hat had nick-named the alley, “The Spaceship”, in dedication to that insane Mafia man with the weird glasses. 

Yet even though this dim-light alleyway was the tabby’s home, CC was nowhere to be seen.

\--------------------------------------

Bow was struggling to keep up the pace of constantly trotting around on the rooftops of DJ Grooves’ movie set. Having a trail of band owls with knives following her didn’t help either.

The girl with the bow then jumped from the rooftop to one of the large parade floats, the gang of owls, still following her every move.

Bow Kid was really starting to regret choosing to star in the penguin’s movie. She never expected that the less intense one would be so pecking long and tiring.  
“Keep it up Darling! You still got another 10 minutes ‘till you’re done!” Grooves declared to Bow.

“Finaaaallyyyyy….” Bow cheered, unenthusiastically, stopping for the first time since the “movie”.

That was when the closest owl sliced her with a knife. Bow Kid yelped and started sprinting again.

Bow ran around the entire set, jumping from floating platform to the next, jumping on flying spaceships, and trying her best to evade the owls for the next 10 minutes. 

She then landed onto the middle building where Grooves was, and the owls disappear, leaving only smoke.

“Annnnddd cut!” the penguin announced grandly. “Good job today darling! I can not WAIT to see the face of that no-good cheat when I win the Bird Movie Awards!” 

The girl just sighed and took the timepiece from the movie director, who was beaming like the sun, and smashed the timepiece to the ground. Teleporting herself to “The Spaceship”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is the boss fight. yeet- im gonna try to update this as much as i can. i won't be doing it daily anymore.


	11. Dead Club Studio?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGH- GAAAAMEE- the birds get their asses kicked-

The studio was dusky and eerily quiet. Contrast of how it was when it was day, bright and blaring with noise. Conductor and Grooves’ arguing echoing through the halls of the castle. But there was no sound. None at all.

Dead Club Studio wasn’t ever like this. At least, not until the annual Award Ceremony, as far as the two children were aware of.

Surprisingly, both of the directors had won the trophy, though that didn’t stop the two birds from screeching at each other.

Hat and Bow was again, standing in the middle of the receptionist’s “office”/lobby. Their eyes the size of peaches.

“Bow… I don’t like this…” cold sweat was tickling against Hat Kid’s skin.

“I know Hat. Me neither,” Bow narrowed her eyes. “Something is definitely wrong.”

“We probably should find an elevator or something, we need to find those birds.”

Hat started to climb the trophy shelves, towards the still open vent.

“Yeah. We should,” Bow agreed, as she followed Hat.

\------------------------------------------

As the two girls were jumping from sandbag to sandbag, they heard muffled voices.

“-Ah....that bomb...Ah’m gonna...in case....someone shows...up….” 

“Darlin’....Darlin’! Good…! We should… cars…! Smash...someone!”

“Finally...ideas...Peck Neck...More…. knives!”

Bow shuddered. That really didn’t sound good… Not at all. 

She turned to Hat. The hatted girl was sweating an ocean, a cold, deep ocean.

The duo just continued to sprint through the basement.

\-------------------------------------------

Bow and Hat suddenly stumbled upon a room. The room was even more blarring than DJ Grooves’ set. Stage props were scattered, and strangely enough, there were owls and penguins on the side cheering. But what caught the attention of Bow, were the two birds on the wooden stage.  
The Conductor, stomping, more violently than usual, and a timepiece in his hands. Meanwhile, Grooves was still swaying like he always does, but in the penguin’s flipper, was a shining, sharp knife.

“What the… What is this? Some kind of highschool musical? Why is there a stage-” Hat wondered out loud. “G-GROOVES? CONDUCTOR? What are you doing here-”

“Wait...Hey! That’s our timepiece!” Bow cut Hat off.

“Huh? Wait! Give us back that timepiece-”

Hat was interrupted when something sharp slid right past her right cheek. Her eyes became even wider as she touched her cheek. Blood slowly dripping down. Bright crimson blood stained her fingers.

Hat Kid looked at the wall behind her. She saw that in the wall was that knife, stuck in the wall.

When the hatted girl looked back at the penguin director, his flipper was extended out, in a throwing position.

“Oops Darling! I didn’t mean to do that!” DJ Grooves said in the most condescending voice. “I’m so sorry!”

There was a glint of pink behind those club-shaped sunglasses. 

“EY! Peck neck! Get to the point already!” the Conductor screeched. There was also a shine of pink beneath his hat. 

“I’m on it, I’m on it, darling! Be patient! Anyways! I- WE need this timepiece to fix our lives! Our whole careers! And THIS is the answer to all of our problems!”

“Well you can’t have it! It’s ours! So give it to us!” Hat huffed. 

Another knife went at her, but it luckily missed. Though narrowly. 

“Damnit Darling!” Grooves shrieked, as he raised his flipper, and sky-blue cars were suddenly going after the two girls.

Bow and Hat easily evaded the cars, but the owl(?) suddenly came out of nowhere and tried to stab them. 

“AHHAA! Take that peck necks!” Conductor squalled, slashing a part of the stage off.

They also were able to dodge the knives, and even being able to hit the director. 

Though they kept getting attacked constantly. It was like a cat trying to catch a little mouse over and over. 

Cars, disco balls, knives, the birds themselves, kept going after them. 

Until finally, both Hat and Bow Kid were able to hit them with their umbrellas one last time, knocking them out.

But no before they hollered, “PECK NECCCCK!” “I HATE YOU DARRRRLINGGGG!”

Hat sighed in relief and tiredness, and took the timepiece and Bow’s hand. The hatted alien smashed the timepiece to ground and teleported themselves out of Dead Club Studio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit longer than usual- so that's why it took so long


	12. The Subcon Soul Snatcher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here is the purple pool noodle snatching children's souls.

“Hat, I don’t think we should go in there! It could be dangerous! Plus it looks like it could murder us!” The girl with the bow’s body was visibly shaking. 

“Nahh, I bet it’s just looks creepy-” Hat started, but was startled by a gigantic amethyst spider. “Okayyy! NOPE! NADA, LET’S GET OUT OF HERE-”

As the two girls turned away to vacate the forest, little thorny vines tripped Hat, triggering the trap.

“AHAHAHAHHA! FOOOOOOOOOL! YOU BLEW IT! YOU PECKED UP!” a shadowy ghost noodle-thing popped out of the ground, like a worm, shrieked.

He looked more ridiculous than threatening. Especially because he had a golden crown on top of his “head”.

Bow and Hat looked at each other, feeling more confused than when they met the bird directors. 

“What? You’re not going to say anything to me, the KING of Subcon?” the phantom narrowed his “eyes”. “Eh, you’ll die anyways, so tell you what, I've got a piece of paper here! Don't worry about the details! I just need you to sign right here at the bottom!"

The ghost summoned a piece of paper and a lavender quill, then gesturing it towards the children.

Hat took the “contract” and skimmed through it, then very slowly signed her name on the dotted line. Adding a little doodle at the end.

Bow, however, needed more convincing.

“Why should I sign that? How do I know I can trust you? For all I know, you could be sadistic murderous ghost king who just wants our souls and free man-labor.” Bow Kid crossed her arms.

“Was that really all a guess?” The ghost “king” raised an eyebrow.

“More or less.”

“Huh! Well… you don’t really have a say in this.” The purple ghost smiled, his form somehow growing menacingly taller.

The girl with the bow also took the paper and quill, but actually read the contents of the contract. But, it didn’t say anything about dying or soul snatching, so she signed it. 

“AHAHAHAHA! YOU’RE DEAD! DEAD!” the king screeched at the top of his “lungs”. 

Suddenly, Hat felt more empty than normal, her soul was gone. So was Bow’s.

“Now, come back tomorrow to do your contractual obligations!” the snatcher cackled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eh- not too long but whatever. also there was a reference to spider man into spider verse- tho its really subtle. also also, calling Snatcher "the snatcher" in lowercase wasn't a typo.


	13. Toiletry Cleaning and Mail Chucking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the toilet of doom is surprisingly good at taunting, and bow is great at yeeting

“Ewwwww!!! I don’t WANNA clean a toilet!!!” Hat screeched at the Snatcher.

“Well, KIDDO you just have to DEAL with it!” Snatcher snarked back, causing Hat to slightly flinch, which was a horrible idea for his ever-growing ego.

“Why couldn’t we do something more sanitary? Like delivering mail?” Bow peeped.

“Oh you’re going to do that too! But after the Toilet!”

Hat Kid kept groaning and complaining in protest, but the king wouldn’t budge.

“You either do the contract or DIE,” Snatcher finally roared at the two children.

And reluctantly, Hat and Bow strolled to where the toilet was jumping from one side to the other.

\---------------------------------

“IT DOESN’T EVEN TALK- HOW IS IT STILL TAUNTING US?!” Bow shrieked shrilly.

The toilet did not take kindly to them trying to clean it, and started to attack the two girls. 

“DON’T ASK ME!” Hat yelped, dodging the poisonous swamp-green bubbles. 

“I WASN’T TALKING TO YOU!” 

“WELL HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?!” 

The yelling match of the duo kept going on until the toilet burst into millions of lost souls and the souls scattered.

“UGH! Hat this was your fault! If you hadn’t wanted us to go here we wouldn’t had our souls taken and do some ghost-demon thing’s chores!” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Hat rolled her eyes.

\----------------------------------

“AHAHHAHA FOOOO- Oh wait. It’s you. AGAIN.” the Snatcher glared at Hat and Bow. “You know you could’ve just come to my tree, no need to trigger my traps EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU NEED ME.”

Hat had the smuggest smile on her face.

\-------------------------------

“Advisor? Why would I introduce you brats to my even more bratty advisor?” Snatcher narrowed his golden eyes.

“Cause why not! I want new friends!” Hat pouted, her cheeks puffing up. 

Bow nodded in agreement.

“Look, you wouldn’t want to meet Moonboy, he’s an idiot-” The king started.

“THAT’S NOT MY PECKING NAME, KING CONTRACT NOODLE!” a corpse-thing ghost yelled. Obviously, incredibly pissed.

The new ghost had a crimson coat with dandelion buttons, a monocle shaped like a spade, a robin’s egg blue mask. 

“WELL DEAL WITH IT COW JUMPING THE MOON!” Snatcher screeches back. “THIS IS MY FOREST, MY DOMAIN, MY KINGDOM, MY RULES!”

“Time… Who is this?” Bow laughed nervously.

“Ah! Hello there children! I am Moonjumper, Snatcher’s advisor!” Moonjumper smiled at the two girls. “Although, I regret agreeing to being his oh-so-great-and-powerful majesty, Snickerdoodle Pool Noodle’s, advisor.”

“Nice to meet you Moony!!” Hat Kid happily greeted.

“Of course, now MY DEAR FRIEND SNATCHER,” the corpse growled through clenched teeth. “We got a problem with HER.”

“I can send the brats to deal with HER, don’t worry!” Snatcher flashed a “toothy” grin at the other ghost.

Hat felt like she was in the freezing, unwelcoming ocean.

\----------------------------------

“And then she gave me some flowers! I didn’t pay for them though… I should find that Florist and pay for them! She was really nice… but she’s probably dead! Haha!” the Subconite who Hat and Bow needed to deliver mail to, exclaimed.

The Subconite was ranting for nearly an hour now, wasting their precious Time.

“Would you like to have some soul tea? It’s good for your soul haha!” the dead child continued. “Or do you want some soul cookies? I can ask Boss to bake them-”

“CAN WE JUST GIVE YOU YOUR PACKAGE ALREADY?!!” Bow finally screeched.

The Spadeconite looked surprised, their eyes wide like a dead fish.

“Oh! My mail? I didn’t realize you had that! Thanks!” 

Bow took their package, and chucked the card-board box at their face, causing the vessel to yelp a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so how do yall think of the fic so far? commentdownbelow-


	14. Hyacinth and Anemone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally hat and bow's true names. a shorter chapter but... im kinda dead

“Time dang it!” Hat Kid stomped her feet onto the cold stone ground of the Mustache Kingdom. “Why do we always have to do so much work JUST to get our timepieces back?!!”

“Hat, let’s calm down alright? Getting mad won’t do anythin-” Bow tried to reason with Hat, but was rudely interrupted.

“I don’t wanna hear it Hyacinth! Why can’t ANYTHING be easy anymore?! Why?! It’s STUPID!”

Bow Kid froze. Hat had never used her birth name before. Even before becoming a Time manager and using her nickname, Hat Kid hadn’t ever used “Hyacinth” in forever.

“H-hat, please calm down! You’re making me worried-”

“It’s Anemone! Seriously! I’m tired of being a soulless errand girl for some ghost demon! I’m tired of being some old bird’s ‘star’! I’m tired of everything!” Hat(or Anemone) shrieked interrupting the other girl once again.

The hatted girl’s huffs and heavy breathing was that Bow heard.

“Look… Anemone, I know you’re tired of this. So am I. But we must persevere! At this pace we can get all the timepieces back! And we can go home and come back whenever!”

Anemone looked at her, nodding slightly and slowly.

“Good to know you agree with me,” Bow Kid smiled. “We should probably get to the Diamond Kingdom now. Gotta complete those contractual obligations.”

All she got in response was a loud groan of disapproval.


	15. The Long Forgotten Diamond Kingdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ooohhhh boy here we go- it the ice bitch

The Diamond Kingdom was a small frozen island with almost no inhabitants. The leafless trees were covered in icicles, the ground was more snow than soil, and even from a mile away, it was bitterly cold. 

The only building in sight was a looming manor, nearly as 5 times the children’s heights.

Bow Kid and Hat Kid shivered furiously while taking incredibly tiny steps towards the manor.

“I don’t like how cold it is Bowwww,” Hat complained before sneezing. 

“I don’t like it either but at least I’m not complaining about it every 5 seconds- Chu!” The other sneezed as well. “Huh? Wait… is that a…. Subconite?”

The subconite in question wasn’t like the other that the duo had seen. It was tall, taller than the girls by at least 2 feet, it didn’t have a lavender spade brooch but a blood-red diamond. It also had a long braid tied with a frozen flower. 

“Dunno! They look different from the other ones we’ve seen!”

The spadeconite (or rather diamondite) looked surprised upon noticing them, but quickly regained their composure. 

They nodded towards the two girls, then towards the manor. They then shook their head, probably saying they shouldn’t go in there.

“Well… we have to go in there to mess with some old lady. So we can’t not go in there, as much as we don’t want to,” Bow explained.

The diamondite looked solemn for a second, before handing the duo 2 unfrozen flowers. 

Bow and Hat just looked at each other, confused, but they both took the flowers.

Hat stuffed it into her hat, while Bow tied it to her hairbow. 

“We’ll be off now! Bye!” The hatted girl waved back to the florist diamondite. 

\------------------------------

The splashing of their now soaked and soggy boots echoed through the basement.The water reached a little above Hat and Bow’s knees. There were candles, somehow still lit. Maybe over time the heat the candles emitted, melted the ice, turning it into the water, though that was only a theory.

Strangely enough, there was a subconite (one with a spade brooch), playing with their thumbs.

“Oh! Hey newbie! I’m just here to tell you that you’re not allowed to use your hats or bows or timepieces!” 

“Bow… do we have to be here?” Hat narrowed her eyes, as she picked a corner of her dress.

“Unfortunately, that is if we want our souls back.” Bow Kid sighed. 

The two time managers made their way out of the cold basement and opened the door to get out of there. Though, just as the door creaked behind them, a shriek startled the duo.

“WHO'S THERE? WHO DARES ENTER MY HOME?!”

Bow nearly yelped in surprise before covering her mouth with her hands. Hat tried not to cry. The two ran quickly away from the door and to some other room.

\-----------------------------------

Thuds came running after Hat. Bow had told her to keep watch at the front of the door, while she was trying to find if there was any key to get them out of the manor. She really regretted even letting the timepieces loose in the first place. 

Hat somehow knew that if she messed up, even a little bit, it would mean immediate death. Her boot got caught in the faded rug. 

The hatted child desperately tried to get up, when she felt a clawed hand grab her leg.

\--------------------------------

Bow tried looking for the key, looking under the canopy bed, in the closet, anywhere. Instead, during her search, she found a tattered diary. Bow decided to pocket the diary for later, tucking it into her coat, and continued to look for the key.

There was a green balloon and… the key! 

The girl with the bow pushed the balloon, until the key fell into her hands. Grinning, she went out to discover that Hat was gone.

\------------------------------

Hat Kid screamed in terror, kicking away the hand, and started to sprint away. As far away as possible from whatever that was. She ran to the closest door/room and slammed the door behind her.

The room wasn’t as dusty as the others. It wasn’t caked in dust, and it didn’t have as many tears in the wallpaper. There was a giant teddy bear in the far corner, a rotting wooden crib, a toy train that still, surprisingly worked.  
Hat was brought back to reality when an eerie red glow neared the room. Thinking quickly, she ducked under the crib and hid. Moments passed by like centuries, until the monster left the room.

She scrambled to get up, and booked it to the stairway to meet up with Bow again.

\-------------------------------------

“Dang it! No no no no no noo! Where did is it?” Bow squalled, trying to find where that old hag had taken the key. She saw in the corner of her eye, steam coming from the bathroom. “Wait… the bathroom!”

The kid ran into the bathroom, but started to tip-toe, wanting to not make more noise. The key was hung near the towel rack. Bow was just about to grab it before she saw the shade grabbing the air for a towel. That’s when she snatched the key suddenly and ran for it.

\------------------------------------

Bow darted up the stairway, seeing Hat waiting for her impatiently at the top. Bow put the key into the golden lock, and it broke off. 

Immediately when it opened, the two hastened into the attic. Hat took the timepiece, and smashed it to the ground, teleporting back outside of the manor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was WAY longer than i originally thought- but i hope you like it! part 2 is gonna come out soon. also feel free to request some stuff!


	16. Hat's Dreams and Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a slight break from the main story. but at least now you know why she's so reluctant to go back.

Hat woke up, laying spread out in a black void. She sat up, noticing two figures, standing near her.

One of the figures was tall, approximately five feet and six inches. They were wearing a vermillion coat, with heart-shaped buttons. A golden scarf wrapped around their neck. And a hat with a crown, sat on top of their head. 

The other figure was significantly shorter, only about five feet-ish. Their appearance was like a shadow. Their skin, hair, and clothes different shades of rich purple. Their cloak was tattered, though their dress was perfectly intact. They also wore a hat with a hat with a crown. 

“Get your act together! You need to get all of the timepieces! You can’t keep dragging it around talking and making FRIENDS with people!” The shadow scowled, reprimanding Hat. 

“Geez Shadow. I know you’re salty about dying and stuff, but you don’t need to scold her. Plus, you were her once. You went through that.” The adult tried reasoning with Shadow Kid.

“Oh shut up Hat Adult, you’re just as stupid as her.” 

Hat Adult cringed and mumbled, “Touche.” 

“Why are you here Adult and Shadow? You guys know that you shouldn’t be here, that’s spoiling the future!” Hat (Kid) exclaimed. "And we don't do spoilers here!”

“We thought we’d visit you! We were getting lonely- Well I was getting lonely,” Adult chuckled. Plus, you need to go back to Time. You still are a Time Manager.”

“Ugh. Maybe we should remind you that you failed to do your responsibilities once and you have to make up for it?” Shadow rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. “Idiot Adult?”

Adult sighed and clicked with her gloved fingers. 

\---------------------------------------------

The blackness disappeared, along with the two figures. Blue replaced the blackness. Hat stood up.

Her clothes and hat weren’t a bright crimson anymore. Instead it was white, with sapphire accents. 

The clock towers in the distance were darker shades of indigo, clear bubbles floated about. There was a much bigger clock tower, white with robin’s egg blue crystals in it. Platforms that were also white with cobalt crystals, leading up to the tower. 

The hatted kid hopped from one platform to another until she reached the top. She pushed the clock’s face slightly, opening up a vault, nearly filled to the brim with timepieces. One nearly fell out. Hat immediately pulled the clock dial back  
.  
She already knew how many timepieces were in there.

\---------------------------------------------------

White flashed and she was forced inside the clock tower. Three children were running about on first floor, in the garden. 

The garden flourished with countless blooming cerulean flowers, springing vines, and perfectly cut hedges. 

One of the children was a boy, with navy blue jacket that was far too loose for him. The other two were girls, with a hat and a hair bow. 

“1...2..3… I’m gonna get you!” The boy shouted, chasing the girl with the bow.

“That’s no fair Timmy! You got a head start!” The girl with the bow pouted.

“Nu uh!” 

“Yeah uh!”

The other girl, the one with the hat, snickered at the two other children, tapping them on their shoulders. 

“What?!” The boy and the girl with the bow cried out. 

“You’re it! Haha! Try and tag me!” The little child with the hat sing songily taunted.

The boy and the girl started to chase the third child, all laughing cheerfully.

\---------------------------------------------------

Screaming. Fire. Screaming and fire. Everywhere. 

The vault’s face was wide open, the flames slowly burning the timepieces. Though luckily for Hat, it didn’t shatter them. Just left minuscule burns.  
\------------------------------------------------

“So you ADMIT to being guilty of committing arson and almost damaging the timepieces?” The Time CEO, himself, boomed from the glass podium. 

“Well- I was under the influence of the timepieces, causing me to become corrupt Grandp- Mr. CEO!” Anemone tried defending herself.

“You’ll be demoted fro-”

“No. You shouldn’t demote her,” Time’s Friend (or better known as Tim’s Friend) interrupted the CEO. “She’s earned her place as a Time manager. Though she committed a horrible crime, she shouldn’t be demoted for something she had nearly no control over. Anemone, you will still have great consequences, but you will not be relegated.”

“Friend, you-” Tim started.

“Cased closed.”

\-------------------------------------------------

Tim’s Friend floated beside Anemone.

“Hey Kid. You OK? That trial probably had shaken you up huh? Sorry about that.”

The little girl stayed silent. 

“You...want some gloves? Those burns look nasty.”

More silence.

“Here. Gloves. They’ll protect you from burns and the corruption of the timepiece. Hope you’ll find them useful. See ya around Kid.” 

The now-real imaginary friend disappeared, leaving a small puddle of black ink behind.

Anemone fixed her hat, and put on the gloves. She was now Hat Kid. Not Anemone.

At least now she wouldn’t be constantly reminded of her sins.


	17. Out Alive

The two kids stumbled on the slippery snow, nearly falling face first into the ground.

“Come onnn! I don’t ever want to see snow again! I thought it was just fun and stuff! Not make you freeze to death!” Hat Kid frustratedly whined.

“Me neither… Snow kinda sucks now,” Bow agreed with clattering teeth. “But at least we finally get to leave this hell hole. And we completed another contract, we just need one more timepiece ‘till we’re done with this area! And then we can visit those cats I saw wandering around!”

“Yup! At least there’s one good thing about this whole ‘situation.’”

\------------------------------------------

The florist subconite was shocked at what they saw.

The two children who were here earlier, they suddenly popped out of nowhere, and appeared right here! They had come out of the manor… alive.

‘How did they come out of there… alive?! Everyone that entered never came back! Much less alive!’ Thoughts sprinted through the diamondite’s mind. ‘Why, how, what?’ 

“Oh! Hello Flower Subconite! You’re still here? I thought you went home!” The child with the hat greeted the dumbfounded diamondite. “You look surprised! Why?”

The subconite shook their head. Then fumbled with their coat a bit, before pulling out a small bouquet. 

“Here.” They croaked hoarsely (they hadn’t spoken in a very long time), as they handed the duo the flowers.

Now, it was the children’s turn to be stunned. 

“Why are giving us this?” The one with the bow asked them.

They said nothing in return.

The hatted one shrugged, and stuffed the flowers into her hat. While the one with the bow turned away, and then glared at the hatted one.

The two of them took a pink hourglass and slammed it onto the snow covered ground.

\----------------------------------------------------

“... You think those two brats are still alive?” The “advisor” asked his king.

“If they are, they’re not for long.”

There was a pink glow illuminating the inside of the tree, while laughter echoed throughout the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a really quick chapter. next chapter, we get to see a little fight.  
sorry about the whole hiatus thing! i took a pretty long break for the holidays


	18. Your Contract Has Expired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wow this was a doozie.

The two of them poofed back into existence at the arena, back where they had “cleaned” the possessed Toilet.

On the opposite side of where Hat and Bow were standing, was a timepiece. Glowing and floating in place.

Hat Kid instantly noticed the timepiece while Bow was still trying to process of where they were.

“Look look look! There’s a timepiece… just standing there!” The hatted girl pointed her finger in the direction of floating hourglass.

“You can’t be serious, Hat, nobody would just LEAVE a timepiece standing aro- Oh. Oh you’re serious. Wait, oh my god! There’s a timepiece!” Bow Kid cheered. “We’re gonna go home!”

Bow ran around the pool of acid, while Hat swung her umbrella over it, clinging to the hookshot. 

But before one of them could get to it, a certain specter stopped them.

Both of them turned away from the timepiece to face him.

“Hey wait up kids,” Snatcher demanded. “Remember how the old contractor had his head pop off? That wasn’t a coincidence. It popped right off the moment he stopped being useful to me. And guess who just became obsolete? That’s right. You.”

The duo’s eyes widened. Bow looked back at where the timepiece was, only to see that the timepiece had magically teleported into Snatcher’s hands.

“Now that possessed outhouse isn’t bothering me anymore, and all your contracts have been tidied away… I don’t need you around. Besides, you didn’t think I was going to let you keep all these timepieces, did you? Don’t answer that. They fell in my forest, kids! They belong to ME. Now be good little children or whatever, and hand them over!”

“No! They’re ours! They belong to us!” Hat and Bow shouted at him simultaneously.

“Fine then… Time to see what I'm REALLY capable kiddos... SAY GOOD BYE TO THOSE LITTLE HEADS OF YOURS!” The King cackled as he snatched Hat’s hat and Bow’s bow, before swiping at them with his sharp claws.

The crowd outside of the battle area wooped excitedly at the sight of some source of entertainment.

Bow was able to dodge them in time, but Hat didn’t get away in time. Her marigold cape was caught by Snatcher’s claws. She tried to get away, making a large tear in her cape. 

She landed on the ground with a huff. 

The cobblestone ground Hat was on, suddenly started glowing. The hatted kid sprung back up into a standing position, just before a large blast came from the ground. 

“Hat! Are you alright?!” Her sister shouted at her, concerned.

“Y-yeah, I think!” 

Before they could fully recover from their shock, more glows started appearing. 

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” The Snatcher laughed hysterically. “You’re waiting for me to turn blue aren’t ya? Sorry, but BLUE doesn’t suit me! So that means, I’m invincible huh? THAT’S TOO BAD!”

More blasts came shooting up from the ground. Snatcher flailed his hands around, summoning his minions onto the arena, having them circle around the arena. 

Laughter and cheers echoed from the subconites as they swirled around. 

Both the blasts and the revolving minions stopped. Instead, an army of blue potions headed towards them.

Hat was able to avoid them this time, though crashed into the ground, creating a pretty bad scrape on her knees and face.

However, Bow wasn’t able to be so fortunate. Blue “paint” was splattered all over her, shards of glass stuck in her hair and some parts of her arms and legs. The shards created many many cuts, but the girl with the bow was still up and running, even though her eyes were watering.

“Oh? Too many? Let’s try just two!” The King of Spades sent simply two bottles towards the girls.

Both of them were able to dodge the potions easily. 

The crowd of subconites booed at the bore and lack of excitement and action of the  
“show” they were watching.

“Haha!! You’re right! Let’s try… A MILLION!”

And just like he screeched, he sent a million flasks towards them. 

But as soon as the noodle summoned his minions onto the floor again, two flasks didn’t get smashed onto the floor.

“Hat! Look over there! Grab one of those potion things!” Bow Kid called out, before falling into a coughing fit. 

Hat Kid lunged over to where the potion was and snatched it. As soon as it was in her grasp, she threw it at the ghost.

All the spadeconites went back to their seats, jumping and hurrahed even more, knowing that there was going to be more action and “drama”.

“...Did you just color me blue with my own attack? That… that can’t count! Surely this doesn’t count right?” The now blue colored king growled. “That does it. TIME TO DIE!”

He flung his arms up, sending more blasts up from the ground. 

Hat decided she was going to kick this “big old meanie” in the face by swinging onto the hook shot above the pool of acid. She swung the umbrella, hooking to the hook, and pushed herself off the ground. Her feet crashed into the ghost’s glowing face. 

Said ghost recoiled in surprise and pain. 

“YOU LITTLE BRAT!” The Snatcher screamed, summoning tall vines with sharp thorns and leaves. 

And they were headed right towards Hat. 

Bow took it upon herself to attack the specter too before the vines could tear Hat Kid to shreds and threw her umbrella at Snatcher’s face. 

Before long, the two children had defeated the king of Subcon. 

\----------------------------------------------------------

“You’re… you’re such both disrespectful young ladies...” Snatcher groaned in the distance. “I feel… so weak…”

The arena had disappeared and in it’s place was a dark void of nothing. 

“Please... mercy…!.. Please… HAVE A SEAT!” 

Suddenly the ghost got up to Bow and Hat Kid’s face and snapped his fingers, creating a wooden bench. He also pushed them onto the bench. 

“All of these timepieces landed in MY forest. They’re MY property! So let’s make a deal shall we? You get out of my forest, and we never see you again. How’s that for a deal?” Snatcher snapped his fingers again, this time summoning a quill and another contract (even stamped it with his stamp!).

Bow made a face. 

“That sounds horrible!” The girl with the bow exclaimed, pouting. “Wait a minute!”

Bow turned her sister and whispered something. Hat snickered and nodded.

The king pretended not to notice. 

“Come on! We don’t have all day to chat and hang out!”

The two of them skimmed through the contract, even starting to sign their names, but… Hat skribbled on all of Snatcher’s “policies”. Even started doodling on his face on the picture. 

“Stay and have fun” and “Be our BFFs (maybe even dad! ;3)” was what she messily scrawled. 

“...You know that’s not how contracts work right. Ugh whatever, have one of these timepieces too. Now get out of my forest. If I see you again, I’ll be really disappointed.” Snatcher scowled.

Both children giggled and high-fived each other. 

“Nice!”

“Ew, friendship.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took so long! but i hope you enjoyed this chapter! we'll have a little surprise too next update ;3333


	19. The Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the final chapter.

Mu snickered to herself. CC was away, so she couldn’t stop her from finally getting revenge on the Mafia. And Hat Kid and Bow Kid were too stupid to even realize she was here! 

She could just steal away all those timepieces, and then finally kill all the Mafia for all they’ve done!

They ruined everything. They took everything. They took her parents. They took her life away from her. 

Mu may have already killed the boss, but she wasn’t done yet. Not till they’re all gone. Not till there isn’t a single one left.

The red hooded girl approached the stacks upon stacks of timepieces. 

“Time to mess with time!” Mu squalled.

She gingerly took one in her hand… before smashing it into the ground.

One after another, Mu shattered all the timepieces, going back in time, turning the entire planet into a lava nightmare.

The atmosphere around her changed so drastically that she couldn’t tell if she was in Mafia Kingdom anymore.

The air was hot and dry, the previously blue sky was now a deep blood red, clouds of smoke kept pouring in. The glistening sea was replaced with scorching lava, with bony fish flying into the air.

“Let the show...begin!”

\------------------------------------------------------

“Why is it sooo hot? It wasn’t this hot before…”

Hat collapsed, expecting to land onto the surprisingly soft and bouncy hourglasses. 

But instead of passing out on the timepieces however, she was met with the hard, unforgiving, scorching cobble stone floor.

“Ouchh,” Hat Kid groaned in pain. “Why didn’t I land onto the timepie- Wait! Where'd they go?! Bow!”

Bow was still picking out the shards of glass when she sauntered into “The Spaceship”.

“What is it now Ha- Where’s the timepieces!!”

“I have no idea! I just came in, and they’re all just… gone!”

“What? How? We just tossed them in here, nobody would have noticed!” Bow exclaimed.

“I dunno! Maybe someone did see them! Maybe that would explain the heat… It's so hot now!” Hat threw her arms in frustration. 

“Hmm… I think we should take a re-'' The girl with the bow started, before she started screaming. “HOLY MOTHER TRUCKER- LAVA! LAVA IS COMING! TOWARDS US!!”

Just as she had hollered, lava came pouring into the alley way. And fast.

The two children barely had enough time to wall jump the walls and land safely onto one of the rooftops.

“W-what was that?!! How did that happen?! Wh- I have so many questions, and none of them are being answered!!” Hat Kid made a face. 

Why was everything so weird no- Well weirder.

Bow Kid sighed.

“Guess we’ll have to go full on Detective Useless, time to figure out who’s behind all of this!”

\--------------------------------------------------------

“Okay. I can understand the lava,” The kid with the bow muttered to herself. “BUT HOW DID ANYONE MANAGE TO BUILD AN WHOLE ENTIRE CASTLE IN THE SPAN OF WHAT? FIVE MINUTES?!”

“Shhh, its game logic, it totally makes sense,” Hat Kid shushed Bow, holding up a finger.

Bow rolled her eyes, “Yeah right.”

Before the duo was a castle. To call it big, would’ve been an understatement. The walls were the same bright crimson a certain ex-BFF’s coat was. The roof was coated with gold, same with the statues (of Mu) in front of the damn gates.

The one thing blocking them and where they assumed their timepieces were was this red tinted wooden gate, larger than the Snatcher himself.

That was before they entered those same gates and were greeted with fire spirals and birds with fire mohawks who probably listen to Disney hero songs at 2 am.*

\--------------------------------------------------------

Hat jumped onto one of the springs, sending her further into the castle. Soon after, Bow followed, having poofed all the rouge owls who threw… tickets(?)into mere pons.

That was how it mostly went.

Bow Kid being left behind to hit all the enemies who tried to attack them, while Hat Kid quickly ran forward.

“What’s with you?! You’re just leaving me behind! I thought we were going to do this together! Like we’ve always done!” Bow stopped suddenly in one of the hallways. “Instead of helping me, you’re going ahead without me!”

Hat spun around, facing her sister. “Look, this… this was all my fault! If I had been more responsible, if I had been less of an idiot, none of this would’ve happened! I’m trying to get to the timepieces as fast as I can, so you don’t have to deal with that burden! I can collect them, and then we can go home and get this over with!”

“You’re more of an idiot than I thought,” Bow glared at the other kid. “We can do this together! We’re siblings, we can do this kind of stuff faster, better together!”

“No… I caused this, I caused all these problems, it’s MY job and MY job alone to fix this! I don’t want to drag you into my things anymore. Please? You’ve already done so much for me, you’re the best sister I could ever ask for, but I want to fix what I’ve caused by myself this time.”

For awhile, Bow Kid stared at her, looking like she was going to go on a full on rampage. But instead of screeching, she hugged Hat.

“Ugh. Fine. You’re WAYY too stubborn for your own pecking good. But I’m not going to let any of these peck necks even land a finger on you. You go find the big kid, and take the crown.”

The child with the hat nodded. “What do you take me for? A bad guy?”

\--------------------------------------------------------

“I didn’t hit old man for like, 2 days straight that one time!” A Mafia goon pleaded, on his knees.

Mu had her hand on her cheek, letting it squish it up a bit. She sat cross legged on her mini throne on top of all the pink hourglasses she’d stolen.

“Oh wow! What a touching story… Just kidding! BAD GUY. NEXT!” 

The blonde smashed a button on her throne, opening a hidden trap door, sending the goon falling to his death while he screamed.

“I said NEXT!” 

Mu slammed her other hand on the arm rests.

Hat Kid slid towards the trap door hesitantly. Bow wasn’t there with her right now… sorta killing one of her favorite things, cats.

Mu blinked for a few seconds, before rolling her eyes. 

“Oh. It’s you. You’ve been… kinda a selfish little pest,” The blonde hissed at the other kid. “But eh! You haven’t actually stood in my way. You get to go on, you’re a good guy, I guess.”

Hat cringed at each word coming from her former friend, but the red cloaked girl continued on without noticing the hatted girl’s reaction.

“Go on. You get to LIVE. NEEEXT.”

Her free hand went back to squishing to her cheek, while the enormous vermillion door swung open behind Hat.

Hat, instead of walking away, she jumped from one timepiece to another, until she reached Mu, where she tried to hit her with her umbrella.

The girl on the throne’s eyes widen, before she slapped away the pink umbrella, the force causing Hat to be knocked down, away from Mu and back onto the where the trap door is.

“EXCUSE ME?” Mu shrieked. “Don’t you DARE get anywhere NEAR me. I don’t think you quite understand who’s in charge, little missy. You know I was willing to forgive you. I once thought we’d be best buds, maybe more. But NOPE, YOU turned out to be ROTTEN AND SELFISH. Save the planet from bad guys? Pffftt! Who needs that, amright?”

The red cloaked girl narrowed her eyes even more at Hat. 

“LOOK at all I’VE done without YOU. I’ve restored justice! I AM the justice. No more villains, EVER. I don’t need you. No one. Needs you. Nobody will miss you, and nobody will care. ...You’re the bad guy. I’ll show you what this justice system DEALS with bad guys.”

All of sudden, flickering images of Mu surrounded Hat Kid. Without any time to react, to defend herself or to attack her, Mu punched her in the gut.

Ouch. That was going to be bad later.

A circle of pink started to show up around Hat, and she did the one of the only logical things to do, she ran away from it. It still followed her, and she kept running the peck away from it, until Mu came back from the ground to attempt to punch her again.

The mustacheless girl jumped high into the air and started throwing timepieces at Hat. 

Shards of glass and grains of sand now were of the floor, some on Hat herself. Mu took a break from the air. Hat took the opportunity to swing her umbrella at the other.

Mu immediately jumped right back into action, the flickering happening all over again. However, Hat was able to move out of the way before Mu could sucker punch her again.

The cloaked girl decided to completely ditch the circle thing (at least for the time being) and start throwing the pink hourglasses all over again. 

Hat did get hit by another timepiece, but she still rushed over to Mu, the moment she landed on the ground once more.

It all happened once more.

Only difference was that Mu started panting, she was taking shuddering, shallow breaths.

"GET LOST!" So many people shouted.

"Huh?"

"WE SAID GET LOST!" They shouted again.

Bow, CC, the Mafia goons, Conductor, Grooves, even Snatcher.....

They were all shouting.

The hatted girl looked all around her. Eyes in shock. All these people were here, supporting her.

“ENOUGH!”

…

And everything went to shit.

Everything went dark, but the crashing sounds of the timepieces hitting the ground, and Hat kept running, running as far as she could. Dodging everything. 

The lights came back on, and she was blinded by all the colors. Pink, purple, blue, any color that you could name, it was there.

She didn't have time to gawk at her surroundings, because Mu was aiming at her. ...ohh boy. 

A bright red laser beam came from the other's hand, hitting her for what felt for the millionth time. 

Hat grunted, and quickly sprinted towards the other. She stabbed her umbrella into her shoulder, causing Mu to shriek.

Flickers of Mu went all around her once more, and this time Hat swung her umbrella once again before the other could punch her.

However, the cloaked girl threw even more timepieces, and even longer this time, managing to hit Hat Kid a couple of times. 

While Hat was recovering, Mu took the opportunity to punch her in the face.

Mu aimed for the other kid once more, releasing another laser beam. Hat was able to dodge that, but when she went over to hit her, she wasn't able to. 

The beams kept coming, but she couldn't get a hit in.

She glanced at her other friends, who were whispering with each other. 

"OI! LASSIE, I GOT A MAFIA BALL COMIN' RIGHT YER WAY!"

And just like how they did it in their fight, the mafia all ganged up and started forming a incredibly large Mafia Ball, with a very tiny in comparison Conductor on top of it.

Hat lunged towards the ball and smacked the thing, and it went right into Mu's face.

This happened for a couple of minutes, before Mu summoned a shield to protect herself with.

Despite Mu being able to hit her, she wasn't able to hit HER.

"Hey Kid, get a load of this!" 

The Snatcher threw one of his blue potions at her, and motioning for her to throw it.

"COME ONN KID WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY~ MY POTIONS ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO BREAK THAT MUSTACHELESS BRAT'S SHIELD!"

Hesitantly, when Mu came around to punch her once again, she threw the potion at her face.

"AUGH!! Whadda do that for?!" Mu screeched.

"WHAT WAS THE WHOLE LAVA THING FOR HUH?" Hat retorted back.

Mu just punched her.

And also put that shield back up.

Snatcher once again threw her another potion, and Hat chucked it at Mu, again shattering the shield.

"GET LOST ALREADY KID! WE DON'T WANT A HERO, WE DON'T NEED A HERO!"

All the Mafia nodded in agreement. "Mafia no need for brat to 'save' Mafia!"

"Look here, sugar, we don't need someone to fight our fights."

Mu looked at all the people who were surrounding her.

"W-what?"

"You heard us darlin', we don't want a hero!" Grooves yelled at Mu.

"GET LOST LASS!"

Mu clawed at her face, tears forming in her eyes.

"N-no! This c-can't be! M-my p-powers are... disappearing?!"

Mu jumped high back into the air, catapulted even more timepieces but this time she added bombs, similar to the one on Conductor's train, she aimed all sorts of laser beams, doing any attack that came to mind.

Hat dodged, dodged, hit, swung, did everything in her power and last existing energy to attack the other.

Finally, Mu crashed into the floor, and passed out.

Hat Kid finally got her timepieces back.

After so long.

After all the battles and hurt she had to go through to get these things back, she finally got them.

She and Bow could go back home.

All of the timepieces that we in Mu's possession, all clumped up and turned into a ball of timepieces. 

She waved Bow Kid over.

"Come on! We can go back home!" Hat called out.

"..Yeah. Yeah! We can! We can go home!!" 

Bow darted over, and hugged Hat.

"Thanks Anemone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow. its actually the end. i really really can't believe it. it has been such the ride. this may be the ending of the "canon game", but currently there's the after math story going on, on my tumblr @acardintime! it hasn't updated in awhile, but i swear we'll get there. but thank you all for sticking around and being so patient with me, so see you guys around. bye!


	20. back (kinda)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lol no i'm not actually back.

hi! 

...so its been some time since i've written anything for here or even posted my status huh?

well i'm not dead, so no worries on that, i just don't have all that much motivation to write anything anymore. why am i posting this announcement on two of my more bigger fics? cause there's two reasons. for acit, i'm here to say that everything written in this fic? isn't canon. i'm completely rewriting the entirety of acit. i should've written this back when i first planned to do this instead of... you know posting at 3 am. 

but the link for what of the story i've posted so far is here: https://acardintime.tumblr.com/post/616595831567597568/prologue-carnations-and-forget-me-nots-first#notes

for shattered subcon however, i thought they all deserved a *reason* of why the fic that hasn't been touched in months but used to update nearly daily ish is just... gone.

oh yeah, i changed my tumblr url, its no longer @nodlehead, its @void-of-noodles now, so don't try using that if you're trying to find me.

i hope y'all have been doing well during quarantine and all that shit, i'm glad i can finally tell you why i've been gone. anyways peace out.

-void (noodlerhead)

**Author's Note:**

> yeah- so people might know about this au already-


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